Humanity's soul
by LaurandBill-DestinyLove
Summary: The Dying Leader saved humanity, now humanity has to save its dying leader" Adama/Roslin Disclaimer: I don't own anything, don't sue me, please
1. Meet the music

**Humanity's soul**

"_The dying leader s__aved humanity, now humanity has to save its dying leader."_

The raptor ascended over the water. One last journey. One doomed journey.

Next to Bill, the woman of his life was slowly succumbing to her death.

Inevitable. Merciless. Morbid.

Bill rambled and rambled about the continent, about their cabin and his plans until a dreadful silence made its way to his very soul. She never answered him. He took a look at her face- a light smile on her lips as if she was already seeing her heaven. Bill felt hot steel tearing his heart apart, coldness paralyzing his moves, his breath stuck in his throat, his hands trembling and his vision blurred by tears, terror and despondency. He reached for her wrist, whispering prays to all possible gods, trying to find a pulse…

The rocks were so close. The raptor was too low.

And then they crashed.

###

Screams, fire, blood and chaos…. Bill was desperately trying to find its way through the corridors of Galactica. He had to find Laura. He had to find her. She was dying. She needed him. He fell on the floor, his whole body hurt. The gunfire suddenly stopped. The lights went off…. or was he blind? Terrible silence covered his world.

And then, in the silence, he started hearing whispers. It was like music, it was familiar, it was something he has been craving for his entire life, he just didn't know it until now.

The mist of the dream slowly let his mind go…

Bill opened his eyes. It was dark and quiet. He could hear some soft footsteps in the distance, strange silhouettes coming closer and closer.

"He is awake" someone said. Kara. Or maybe Lee. Bill couldn't tell for his head ached like Hell.

The silhouettes were finally close enough for him to recognize them. There was Lee and Saul, Ellen and Athena. And there was Hera staring at him with smile, holding a sheet in her hand.

_Laura_.

"Where is she? Is she dead?"

Bill couldn't recognize his own voice. It was raspy as if he hadn't used it for quite a while.

"Where is she?" he asked again. He didn't care where he was as long as Laura was somewhere nearby. He could as well be in Hell.

Before anyone answered one of the strange figures stepped ahead. It was a man with paintings on his entire body and clothes from animal's skin. He was holding something like a torch in one of his hands, the other was occupied with a small kid, around Hera's age, a boy who curiously stared at him with the same expression as Hera's.

The man said something to the child, who was most probably his son, and he quickly ran in some direction. Then he concentrated on the lying man in front of him. Bill's head was badly injured, his arm- broken and his entire torso aching unbearably. He has never felt sp weak in his life. The man murmured something on his language and handed him a wooden vessel with something like water inside.

As if reading his mind, Ellen quietly said

"Drink it, Bill. It will help."

Bill did as she asked and drank the liquid. It was indeed water, but it had the strangest taste. Something like herbs, but not ordinary herbs- herbs that tasted more like… fruits… Bill suddenly realized he felt much better.

He raised his head with the intention to ask the same question again. He didn't like their silence. He wanted to know where Laura was. Sensing his mood, Lee came and put a hand on his shoulders, trying to make him stay in horizontal position.

"Dad, you have been unconscious for a whole week. Your raptor has crashed at the only possible rocks in the area. That tribe has found you and sent a messenger to our camp."

"A whole week?" asked Bill weakly. The last time he saw Laura she had not more than an hour.

"A whole week…" he repeated like a death sentence.

Before Lee could answer, Hera sat on his improvised bed and smiled, giving him the sheet from her hand. It was a painting.

A woman lying on the ground. And many, many little dots all around her.

"Laura" the little girl whispered with a smile and then ran away humming some melody.

Bill raised his eyes, hope so fragile that it was almost nonexistent. His son nodded.

"She is alive"

"Yet" Said Saul Tigh.

**Somewhere nearby**

The tribe carefully circled Laura, humming and talking fast on their language. It was a strange language, slow, complicated but melodic. They didn't exactly use words, but more tones and their whole conversation sounded like a song.

Laura, whose eyes have closed under the unbearable pain and tiredness, realized that their talking was like the strangest music she has ever heard, familiar music… one that lulled her to sleep, that calmed her down, that brought her peace…

To be continued...


	2. The Garden

Here is the second chapter. I hope I am not too mystical…. Everything will be explained, I promise ^_^

**Humanity's soul**

**Chapter Two: The Garden**

The eyes of the good man were sad. Hera liked his eyes. They were blue like that big water her mother led her to the other day. Hera didn't want those man's eyes to be sad. She wanted them to be happy like the water. She wanted them sparkling. That was why she handed him the picture of the woman from the song. That song made Hera happy. The face of the woman from the song made her even happier. She hoped she would make the man with the sad eyes happy, too. When she saw that she managed to do that, she went away.

The night was quiet, warm and interesting. So many new things, so many friendly lights above her. She tried to reach them with her hand, like she tried every night. They winked at her mockingly and stayed high and unreachable.

Then she saw the little boy who was with the strange man before. It was as if he was waiting for her to show up. Giggling, she followed him to another tent. There were so many strange men in it, but Hera wasn't scared. After all, they talked the same language she did, they knew the song.

And there she was- the woman from the song. But there were so much different things about her…Hera stopped, nearly starting to cry.

In the dream the woman was smiling and running through the fields, her red hair so soft when she hugged Hera, her laugh so lively when she was telling her stories, her skin so warm when she was kissing her forehead.

Here her hair was dark and unfamiliar, her skin looked cold, her hard breathing brought fear in the little girl's heart. There was no laugh, there was no light, there was no music…

Hera wanted to make it right.

She liked the woman from the song. She didn't know what came first. She didn't know if the song created the woman or the woman was creating the song. Hera was too little to ask those questions. She was just there to sing.

Carefully, she stepped ahead, the strange men staring at her but letting her approach the bed. Hera sat on it, her little hand touching the closed eyes of the woman, humming their song. The men in the tent followed the melody.

Somewhere, in the depth of the dreadful darkness, Laura smiled.

***

It needed the sun to start burning his skin before Bill realized that he had gone asleep again. The pounding in his head has stopped, but there was another vessel with that strange liquid next to his bed. He drank it fast and stood. His aching body protested against the pressure, but he had more important aims than indulging it.

He had to find Laura.

Bill came out of the tent, hoping to meet Lee or Saul. Hell, even Ellen sounded like a good suggestion right now. There were no people around, only numerous tents, all the same, all strange and somehow familiar. He realized that he was in the centre of the tribe's camp.

Where was Laura? Was it too late? What if she wasn't there anymore? How could he fall asleep again?

And then he heard a sound. A child's giggle, a child's song. Bill followed it around the tents until he found himself in some kind of a garden. There was something really strange about that place. The trees, the grass, even the lake with the small waterfall in the middle of the garden lured him to come, to see, to touch. Bill suddenly lost track of time and space, succumbing to the power of the sounds- the waterfall's cry, the tree's whispering, the grass's hissing. He looked and looked until he realized he was spinning around like a child. He could sense the familiar smell of herbs with taste of fruits. He could see the fruits themselves, hidden under the leaves of the trees. He couldn't tell what colour they were for the whole garden looked goldenly under the rays of the sun…. or maybe it was not the sun which made it look that way… And that melody… that melody which felt as if coming from within- in the ground, in the water molecules, in the air… in his very core… There were no birds around, but they were not needed. That place had its own rhythm, its own melody, its own laws. It felt sacred, it felt… heavenly.

Suddenly Hera appeared in front of Bill, leading a little boy with her. _The boy with the man who gave me the liquid_ Bill remembered. He kneeled before the two children and smiled.

"Helo, Hera. Who is your friend?"

She giggled and the boy smiled shyly. They took Bill's hands and led him to the lake in the middle.

And then Bill noticed something he has never noticed before.

A tree. In the centre of the centre. In the core of the core.

A tree right in the middle of the lake.

Fear and hope, bliss and dread, anger and veneration stormed into Bill's soul. He wanted to reach it and he wanted to escape from it for its power was too much to bear.

The children giggled and started singing again, standing on the shore with faces turned towards the tree.

Hera was finally giving words to the melody Bill has felt when he first stepped in that place. Still, those were not words in the actual meaning of the term… but what they sang was enough for Bill to understand.

That place was full of life, life so primal and uncontrollable that Bill didn't know if it felt right to be here, to witness it.

A couple of minutes later the children stopped their singing and Hera once again took Bill's hand in hers. He followed her willingly.


	3. Borrowed time

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! There is the next chapter:

**Humanity's soul**

**Chapter Three: Borrowed Time**

After Hera got him out of the place, Bill need some time to accommodate to the scenery once again. Everything seemed so gloomy after the light he has been witness of. Gloomy and quiet… He felt a distant longing to go back in there mixed with the immediate wish never to go back again. Strange place, indeed…

And then it hit him that he has totally and undeniably forgot about Laura….

As if reading his mind, Hera ran to one of the tents. Bill entered quickly and saw the only person he just couldn't live without.

Laura was in some state resembling sleep, violently dreaming and whispering strange words. Lee has fallen asleep next to her bed and Saul was writing something, sitting on the ground. Saul felt rather than heard the entering of his friend for Bill tried to step and quietly as possible in order not to wake Laura from her unstable sleep. The eyes of the two men met with understanding. Saul got up, unceremoniously woke Lee and dragged him out of the tent.

Finally alone with his beloved, still stupefied from the garden experience, Bill kneeled in front of her bed and put a shaking hand on her face. She was cold and burning in the same time. Bill has never seen her like that before. Then he noticed a vessel like the one he drank from next to her bed. He took a sip. The liquid was different, the taste of the strange herbs- stronger. Bill put it aside, unsuccessfully trying to comprehend what was happening with her but ending with just stroking her face. How he wanted to give her peaceful dreams. How he wanted to take the burden of the pain off her shoulders. But he couldn't. He has never been able to.

With a final caress on her cheek and a light kiss on her lips, he stood up and left the tent.

Saul and Lee were waiting for him outside, worry written all over their faces.

"We were watching her for you, Bill. I assure you, she hasn't been alone since the moment we got here."

"Thank you, Saul" Bill answered.

"What happened there, old friend? The tribe has found the burning raptor. I revised its remains- the crash has been pretty damn serious. These are the only rocks in the area. Don't tell me that…"

Bill shook his head.

"No. It was just…. She didn't answer me, I reached for her hand, she was so cold and I… I just got scared."

Lee tried to say something but then decided otherwise and shut his mouth. What was here to be said? For over 40 years in the military his father has never lost control over a raptor. There was only one thing which could make him forget about the fact that he was in the air. And this thing was dying in one of the tents.

"I don't understand, though…" Bill continued "When we took off, Laura didn't have more than an hour… how is she…"

"Still alive?" A voice from behind interrupted him. Bill turned and faces Elle Tigh, grasping a bunch of wild herbs. The same herbs from that strange place Hera had taken him earlier. Ellen nodded slowly at the realization in his eyes.

"The locals make some sort of tea from it. They made her drink it every hour in the beginning. You, too. But I think the dosage in your case was smaller."

"Ellen, do you honestly think that a bunch of grass could postpone _cancer_?" grumbled Saul.

His wife shot him a serious look.

"She should have been dead by now. What is your explanation about it, Saul? Fresh air?"

Bill, not listening to the verbal fight the Tighs started, turned to his son.

"Does that mean…?"

"I am afraid not, dad. I brought Doc Cottle to see her yesterday. He said that this was very slight and temporary change. The disease is still in full control of all her internal organs. Whatever these herbs are, they are just postponing the inevitable. Doc said he would come back tomorrow. The camp of the colonials is half an hour away from here. You will talk to him yourself"

"Borrowed time"

Bill whispered wistfully and turned his look at East. Hera and her new friend were playing on the new field, giggling and running in the high grass. A picture of life itself. A picture of undeniable hope. A picture of the future.

Future which did not belong to his Laura. Hope which had nothing to do with his love. Life which was slowly slipping away from the woman he so deeply cared about.

Suddenly, Bill wished that he had never woken up from that crash.

***

Laura didn't wake the entire afternoon but Bill didn't leave her tent anyway. People came and went away, but he was always next to her head, his hand caressing her pale face. It was only Hera who made him company. The little girl was either drawing or humming that melody of hers. In the beginning Bill was afraid it could wake Laura, then he realized it was actually helping her.

When the sun went down, Hera stood up, took the wooden vessel from the ground and disappeared. She came back after a while with the vessel full of the same liquid and handed it silently to Bill. He stared at the girl's big dark eyes, trying to understand the mystery she was. But mysteries were not to be understood so easily, he smiled.

"Thank you, Hera."

The little girl answered him with a smile of her own and sat on the ground again. Bill sighed and tried to wake Laura. He shook her lightly, not wanting to hurt her but knowing that it was crucial for her to drink that liquid.

"Laura, Laura? Wake up, honey, wake up"

She murmured something inaudible and tried to shake off his hand on her shoulder.

"Laura, you have to wake up"

And there they were, finally- the two sweet green lights of her eyes. Her sleepy smile was like a blessing over him.

"Hi Bill."

"Hi there, love. You must drink that."

"Hmmm…. Ok…"

He gently supported her to rise a little and helped her drink all the liquid. The exercise too much for her tired body, she quickly fell on the bed again. Bill's heart ached at the picture of her drained expression. He kissed her lips sweetly and stroked her cheek with his thumb in attempt not to think about how weak she looked. Laura hummed lightly and gave him another smile.

"Where have you been, Admiral? I know there was something wrong. You haven't showed for a whole week. They think I am too weak to count the days."

Bill chuckled at his woman's rebellious expression. Never underestimate Madame President, no matter how weak she is.

"What do you remember?"

"I remember the raptor, the animals under it…. So much life… And then all went blank and the next thing I remember is… it may sound weird."

She turned her head towards Hera who was still playing on the ground.

"What, what would sound weird?" Bill insisted. Laura sighed and looked him in the eye.

"I remember Hera, running down the fields together, telling her stories, laughing with her… and that distant melody enveloping us…. I don't know who was singing- maybe it was me, maybe it was Hera… or it was the ground itself? All I know is that everything around us was… music…."

Bill was watching how her face lit up while she was speaking, suddenly strong enough to be passionate about that dream of hers…. Or maybe it was vision? Bill realized he didn't care as long as it gave him some more time with the woman he loved.

Laura stopped speaking, noticing that he wasn't actually listening to her anymore, but just smiling and enjoying her ramblings. She smiled radiantly at his dreamy expression.

"Bill, have you heard a word from what I said?"

"Part of it..."

Laura touched his face with a trembling hand, caressed his cheek and suddenly became serious.

"I heard about the crash… when you were talking with Saul and Lee out there… I woke up for a while… I'm sorry."

"I must be the one to say that."

"Shh. We both know that none of this is your fault.

Laura smiled again, the small amount of strength the liquid provided fading quickly. She felt the tiredness overwhelming her again. Bill watched how her eyes closely closed against her will.

"Bill… stay with me…" she murmured, already half asleep. He smiled and lied down in the bed, taking her head on his chest, one of his hand encircling her waist and the other caressing her face, planting light kisses in her neck.

"Sleep now… sleep…"

No music could provide the peace she had in that single moment between dream and reality.

On the ground next to them Hera stopped playing. Everything was good now. The woman from the song was safe. The girl giggled and went to find her mother.


	4. Life on Earth

**Humanity's soul**

**Chapter four: Life on Earth**

Bill woke up early, the sun still hidden behind the tents. There were two things that woke him  
up.  
First- Laura's trembling in his arms, her body hopelessly trying to defeat the chill coming from her own body as well as from the outside world and second- the unmistakable smell of Cottle's cigarettes.  
Bill stood up wordlessly, tucking Laura in his own blanket over hers, and followed him out of the tent.  
The camp was busy this morning. Bill finally realized why there was noone during the day-  
all the people were leaving their tents and headed to East, including the children.

"Makes you wonder where are they going every day, huh?" Said Cottle

"Yeah… I am still surprised that they are not hostile."

"Heh. You should have seen them the first time we met. All the spears and angry  
looks…"

"What happened?"

"Well, some of the other guys from the camp came a couple of minutes later and made us  
come with them. And… we found you two. But we speak different languages… I suppose. So it was pretty hard to cooperate. Then…"

Cottle suddenly stopped talking and took a deep smoke, uncharacteristically lost in thought.  
Bill stared at him with a curious expression.  
"There is more to this, am I right?"  
"There are some crazy things in life, Admiral. I have never tried to explain them. Gods are my  
Witnesses- I am not a philosopher and I don't bore myself with deep thoughts. It is enough for  
me to save my patients. But this…. This is something entirely different."

Cottle took a new cigarette from the package, lightened it and continued

"It was me, Lee, Saul, Ellen and the Agathons who were led to this camp. Romo made all the  
others stay and wait for us. The frakker is annoying as hell but I guess he had enough brain  
not to send what is left from the human race meet with some absolutely unknown wild tribe in  
the middle of nowhere. So we came here and we were all silent like idiots. The leader of the  
village came with that little boy. And then Hera stepped ahead and the boy stepped ahead,  
too… I'm ashamed to say that we needed two kids to establish a communication. Obviously  
Hera was on the opinion that we all talk the same language. Kid is a little nuts if you ask  
me… "

"The songs." Bill whispered. Cottle looked at him curiously.  
"Huh?"  
"The kids communicate through some weird type of singing…"

Cottle laughed thus dropping the cigarette on the ground. He looked at it as if it was its fault  
and took another one.

"Singing, huh? If this is how we are going to communicate in the future, I'd rather not  
communicate at all."

"Why, Sherman, don't you like to sing?" Bill teased. Cottle gave him a glare and took a deep  
smoke.

"There is one more thing about this, Bill. Laura's survival. I won't even begin to tell you  
about the wounds you two got from the crash. I think you can picture that yourself. What was  
stranger was the way they managed to postpone her cancer without any modern knowledge of  
medicine."  
Cottle sat on the ground with look deep beyond the horizon. The sun was just showing itself.  
Still, the sparkle of wonder in Cottle's eyes was unmistakable. He shook his head and  
continued:

"When we got here and saw you two lying, it was her who they paid the greatest attention to.  
Those people had no ways of knowing that she had a disease, or at least they had no  
conventional ways… But still they knew there was something wrong with her… I started  
checking your wounds when the father of that boy told him something and it approached  
me… it led me to that place, looked like some sort of a garden or something. The boy  
pointed me some strange herbs… we both started gathering them… We went back to the  
camp and they made that infusion, applied a compress for your wounds and made a drink  
for both of you… It was as if they were giving you the water of life. I've never seen a  
medicine so simple and so powerful."

"Not powerful enough to actually cure her, though." Bill bitterly remarked.

Cottle looked him at the eyes with a seriousness and sadness so deep that it struck Bill.

"Powerful enough to give you some time, Bill. No matter how small, still- time. This is the  
most precious gift you could ever receive."

###

It has been a week since Bill woke up and found Laura alive. 7 precious days with her, on the  
edge of Death who was still staring at him, confident that it would take his love sooner or  
later. For a first time Bill didn't have a strategy. For a first time he was denied any battle. The people were safe settled on the ground, the enemies were gone, the dangers were no more. The Admiral of the fleet was not needed to make complicate tactical plans thus keeping his sanity if only for a couple of hours, away from the dreadful breath of the cancer. His  
verdict was to stand helplessly, to wait for the inevitable, being a witness of every single step of the illness which was drifting him and Laura apart. And what was even worse- he was supposed to survive all this.  
If life was so cruel, what would Hell look like, he asked himself. the painful pounding of his heart was the only answer.

He would often sit in front of Laura's tent at night, watching the fires of the people from the  
tribe, letting their songs calm him down. Bill was not a man who believed in the mystical  
forces, the nuked Earth erased what little faith was left in his heart. He didn't want to deal  
with any prophecies, gods and destinies anymore. He never came back to that strange garden  
Hera took him to. Was it fear that he might believe in something again that stopped him from  
going there? Was it fear that the hope he felt would be smashed into pieces again that stopped  
him from telling Laura about the place? In the past he would always dismiss such thoughts  
with ease, but the weaker Laura became, the more his mind wandered in the depths of that  
place. And she was indeed getting weaker with every single day…

All of the former Colonials came to visit her. Some brought flowers. Some just stood there. What do you say to a person who has been holding all of your hopes for years and then led you to a disaster? Still, Bill noticed, there was a feeling left, deep beyond any disappointment. Feeling which was not connected with the fact that's she was dying. Gratitude? Maybe. All Bill knew was that those people haven't forgotten their leader, haven't forgotten how she hold the fleet together during their worst times, how she sacrificed herself again and again. Bill was used to think that this sacrifice didn't bring them anything. The tears in the people's eyes were telling him a different story.

Bill told her that one evening when she was awake and feeling better. Laura just smiled wistfully and he suddenly realized that she knew, she knew what her people felt about her- the same she felt about them- a connection which could be established only among those who survived together, a connection running deeper than any official business, disappointment or contradiction. Those were her children, coming back to ask for forgiveness for being angry at her. And this was their leader who would always stay in the centre of their memories and hearts, for she was the reason for them to be alive. Bill smiled then, too, and took her out of the tent to see the stars.

He would bring Laura in front of the tent every time possible and the two would watch the wonders of the new planet together. Everything seemed so exquisite, so unique and real, painfully real. That was not the illusion of some of the ships, that was not a chamalla dream, that was real and it wouldn't go away even when they fall asleep. Laura never wanted to fall asleep. She would stay awake as long as possible, trying not to succumb to the sweet feeling of Bill's arms around her and the almost magic song of the various birds and creatures hidden in the high grass or in the trees. But she would always lose the battle and Bill would stay enchanted to watch her relaxed features before finally realizing that she needed to lie down. Those were some of the most precious moments for both of them, though they were so short.

However, it was Hera who would keep him company in most of the time. Athena couldn't keep her away from the tribe, from that boy or… from Laura. Even with the shared visions of Laura, Caprica and Athena gone, Hera was still a crucial part of Laura's life on that planet. She was, in fact, a crucial part of the whole new community. That little girl and her new friend were indeed the strongest bond between the former colonials and the people from Earth. Everyday Hera would bring those two races together, everyday she would melt a piece of the ice, build the bridge between languages, stop the fears, ensure the doubtful, encourage the curious, clarify the issues and inspire everyone. In some of her better days Laura would say that the girl was born to be a politician. This always made Bill smile, although he couldn't help but feel something beyond the simple childish ease with which Hera communicated with the tribe…  
But this was Earth- every single piece of the life on it was beyond what could be seen…


	5. Hera Agathon and the Dying Leader

It was a quiet night, a night for wonders, whispering promises to the ones who were listening.

But there was also pain in that night. There was chaos, there was fear, there was doom. Hera shuddered in her sleep, desperately trying to escape from the scary sounds in her head, she didn't want to listen to them but they always managed to catch her and bring her back to her horrors. Hera needed help. But what was more important- her song needed help, the woman that song belonged to needed help and Hera didn't know what to do…

***

Laura was burning in pain. Every breath was torture, every particle oxygen her body tried to absorb was bringing her closer to her death, she could feel the inevitable coming to her. Laura didn't fight, too tired and long stopped fearing what has been trying to get her for so many years. She was ready, but still, somewhere deep down, she had the feeling that she did not belong to the other side of the river. There was something which was still holding her up on the ship, she couldn't cross but she also couldn't come back…

***

The boy didn't know why the night was raging. He was used to seeing it friendly and safe but now it was an enemy, like those his father often chased, now it was like a wounded animal trying to defend something the hunters wanted to take away from it. Something old and mighty was coming and the boy was afraid of what was about to be lost, he felt it would be one unbearable loss…

***

Bill felt something dark and scary making its way through his dreams. His heart hurt even before he woke up, even before he realized that something was wrong. Death's call reached even his dreams. He suddenly opened his eyes hearing Laura's tortured breaths.

"Laura? Laura?" he tried to call her, to wake her up, to wrest her from the hands of what was turning out to be her last dream. She wouldn't respond. Death has finally caught her prey and didn't intend to let go of her. A silent cry escaped from Bill's chest.

Somewhere in the dark, Hera started crying.  
Somewhere in the dark, a boy begged the monsters of the night for mercy.

***

Bill had no idea how long he had been trying to wake Laura up- it might have been two minutes or two day for all he cared. Too consumed in his grief, he didn't even notice or express surprise when Cottle, Ellen and Saul, Lee and the Agathons came to his tent. Still in helpless shock, Bill let Cottle examine Laura and whished to never have heard the _"She's in coma. The chances for her to wake up are practically non-existing, I'm sorry, Bill. It's time…"_

Trying to find his breath, Bill rushed out of the tent, hoping for the quiet of the night to help him through the hardest mission of his life- the mission of letting go. The night, however, was everything but quiet. Multiple fires have been lit up and many eyes were staring at him. Bill looked around himself and noticed the whole tribe awake and gathered in the centre of the camp. From south the colonials were approaching with concerned looks. It was almost 3 am in the morning.  
He felt his son's hand on his shoulder and turned towards him in confusion.

"Hera Agathon" Lee said. And it was enough

**One hour earlier**

Hera's cry, high and desperate, has managed to wake up almost everyone from the former colonial citizens. No one knew the reason for it, but the sadness it brought over each of them was enough to bring the people out of their tents and ask themselves what was happening.

Athena was unsuccessfully trying to calm her down when Ellen and Leoben entered the tent, worry visible in their eyes.

"What is happening here?" Leoben asked, meeting Athena's desperate expression.  
Ellen, however, was staring at Hera's hand who was trying to reach something.

"Do you want this, sweetie?" Ellen pointed to the paintings on the floor. Hera sobbed and nodded. Ellen took the blue one from the floor but the child kept crying.

"The green one then?" Ellen tried again. This time Hera stopped crying and took the sheet. Athena let her down and kissed her forehead.

"So all this was about the painting? I would have never guessed…" The mother shook her head. But Hera didn't pay attention to the adults and fled from the tent. The four adults followed her to Cottle's tent.

"What the hell has gotten into you? Where do you want me to go, kid?" Cottle asked in bewilderment when Hera entered his tent.  
"Laura" was all the little girl said while trying to bring the doctor out in front of the confused looks of her parents and the two cylons. A heavy silence took over the little space at the mentioning of that single name. Ellen finally realized what was all that about.

"That painting…" she whispered " that painting is another song. A resurrection song I created back on the old Earth as a part of the first experiments on the resurrection technology."

Leoben and Athena looked at her with wide eyes

"A _song_ can resurrect us?"

"I don't know" Ellen sighed " I thought the song can't resurrect, I thought it was just an experiment, more about the will of us all as a community, kind of a ritual…It is not my idea on the first place, it is an ancient Canceron legend I studied- the whole community should heal the soul of their priest. One soul for all and all the souls as one- this was written on the script. I never actually believed that this song was able to do something more... but obviously Hera has great hopes about it"

Ellen smiled wistfully and turned towards Athena  
"I know what she is trying to do- she is gathering the people, she wants us to go to Laura. We should listen to her."

"The dying leader saved humanity, now humanity has to save the dying leader" realised Leoben in awe.

"And we, as children of humanity, have to go to her, too" Ellen added.

This was how Hera Agathon, the future of humans and cylons, led everyone through the darkest nights to the one light which was bringing them all together but which was slowly fading away...

Where did the legend end and the truth begin, Lee asked himself on his way to the camp, the answer too blurry and the hope too fragile to actually give him solace. But one thing was sure- music led humanity to its home, maybe music could rewrite Laura's destiny?


End file.
